Eight Months

Happy Eight months my little man! I can't believe that I love you more each and every day! As wonderful as it was to bring you home from the hospital, you are so much fun now! You roll around, talk, giggle and basically get into everything you possibly can. When that bell rings at 3:55, I run out the door to go and pick you up. It is such a sweet feeling to walk   in the door and have you smile at me. Sometimes (little stinker) you see me and start crying because I don't pick you up right away. (Mommy has to wash all the germs off her hands first!) You seem to really love school each day and you give your teachers kisses. I'm so glad you are learning to play and share with others, now if you could just stop sharing viruses we could all get some sleep :).

For your birthday I mashed a banana thinking you would love it instead of the baby food. Well, you have bronchiolitis right now so you weren't super excited about it. I had to stay home with you and go to the doctor but overall it wasn't a horrible birthday. We had breathing treatments, you got to see your puppies, you took a really long nap, played with your snail and helped Mommy wash all of your linens, despite the pesky trip to the doctor, it was good day together. So, here is all that you do now that you are eight months old:

1. Say Dada ALL the time. Derin thinks it is your first word, I'm not sure it counts. Sometimes it sounds like you say Daddy!

2. Eat your socks, constantly!!! You are such a little goat! When I try to take it out of your mouth you bite down on it and the tug-of-war begins. Such a fun game.

3. You put your binky in your mouth backwards by the handle and then wait for me to notice. When I do, you move it up and down with your gums and make me laugh!! Then you start laughing and then we just can't stop. Such a little joker.

4. You roll EVERYWHERE. You are so close to crawling, right now you just scoot around on your belly. I just know in a matter of days you will be crawling.

5. Your soothie is Mommy's face. When I feed you or when I rock you, the first thing you do is put your hand on my face and mouth. I can tell when you are really asleep because your arm goes limp. So sweet.

6. You totally eat your veggies now. Of course anything that is green or carrots I have to mix with a little juice and put it in your cereal but you eat them now! I guess you just gave in.  

7. I swear you are teething. You drool like a maniac and gum EVERYTHING. I'm just waiting to see those pearly whites!

8. Your gross motor skills are almost fully developed. (Translation: you pick things up with your fingers)

9. You almost weigh 17 lbs!! We are so close to your one year goal of 18 lbs! Such a big boy!

10. You are a major kicker! When you are lying on your back, whether you are excited or mad, you pick up both legs as high as you can and slam them on the bed or whatever surface you are on. Let me tell you it is loud and so funny to watch. Sometimes it is a temper tantrum, sometimes you are blowing spit bubbles. Either way, hilarious!

11. You love to play in the pack-n-play from Nana and PawPaw. Let me tell you, it is a life saver when I am making dinner. Now you can't roll all over the house!

12. You love your bathtime! Anytime you can splash, you just get so excited. I am so glad that you love the water. I can't wait for your first swimming lessons!

So my darling, you are growing up. As sad as I am to see you get bigger, I LOVE all of the new things you do each day. You are such a fun and happy baby even tho ugh you seem to get sick every week. Oh well, that just means when you start school you will have one strong immune system!

Happy Valentine’s Day

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

- 1 Corinthians 13:2

Ah, love is in the air on Valentine's Day! Now just who gets the credit for this "lovely" day? Was it St. Valentine who still married young lovers even when Emperor Claudius banned young men from marriage? Do we follow more of the Romans in their lottery system of love where on a special day in February, women would put their names into an urn and the men of the city would draw for their "love match". Was the first Valentine card from Valentine while he was in prison? Either  way, we know that the earliest actual Valentine's day card that we have is from 1840, but people were sending love letters much earlier during the Middle Ages. No matter what, the scripture says that without love, we are nothing. Love forgives, keeps no record of wrongs, encourages, inspires....If you don't believe that, George Strait even wrote a song about it.Valentine's day was even more exciting with Michael this year. We bought his first Valentine's cards for his class. They were from Toy Story and had Woody and Buzz Lightyear on them. He had to take them to school so that his "classmates" could exchange cards and put them in the bags the teachers had for them. I remember decorating (actually my mom decorated them) shoe boxes and taking them to school for Valentine's day. Michael had the cutest  little "Love Monkey" shirt that Nana and PawPaw bought him for his first Valentine's day. So cute!! It was fun to see all the sweet cards and goodies that the babies(parents)shared with each other. Soon, they will be big enough for a real Valentine's  party.

Our Valentine's day consisted of laying around and playing with Michael. We didn't make it to church because on Saturday, Michael started throwing up. It is so sad to see a 7 1/2 month old throw up. But either way, he was feeling better on Sunday and enjoyed having the two of us together. He of course got to watch Mommy and Daddy eat a yummy breakfast and dinner but he doesn't know what he is missing (yet). So low key day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I got to rest and enjoy time with my boys, my heart is full.

No matter who gets the credit for this special day, enjoy your loved ones and remember that you don't have to wait until February 14th to share your love with others; love is still special any time of year and it doesn't mean anything unless you share it!

Tubes Anyone???

  Well, our little man has had one long ear infection since November 20th. I remember how sad I was when we found out he had an ear infection because I knew he must be in pain. I was quickly relieved when the doctor gave us antibiotics to kill the bacteria and heal baby Michael's ears. I was wrong. I finished his medicine on Thursday, then Sunday night (Monday morning), he spiked a fever and off to the doctor we go. Sure enough, ear  infection in both ears! Round two of antibiotics. Round three, Round four, Round five of Rocephen shots and then Round six. Nope, still fluid in his ears. I think the RSV flare up in the middle of all of this didn't help his ear issues. So, we met with an ENT doctor - don't ask me what his real title is, it is way too long to spell - sure enough he had fluid and red ear drums. I told the doctor I was ready for tubes because we were getting to that critical age where Michael develops his language skills and I did not want a delay in his speech. Plus, how sad is it that Michael had been living in a world where everything he heard sounded like it was under water?! So Dr. Moss scheduled the surgery for February 4th at 7:30 am.

So the day came, we got up around 3:30am and headed out the door around 5:00am. Derin and I were so nervous. I just knew Michael was going to throw a fit because I wasn't allowed to feed him until after the surgery. But, he did just fine, playing with toys and then sleeping on the way to the hospital.

We met with Dr. Moss and the anesthesiologist before the surgery so they could answer all of our questions. They were very sweet and patient with us, I think they could tell how scared I was. Then a sweet nurse carried my little boy out of the pre-op room. I cried and then about ten minutes later, they came and told us he was ready! While watching him wake up from the anesthesia was incredibly difficult (babies don't do very well with anesthesia), I am so glad we had the tubes put in. Different baby!!! He talks so much more now and just laughs constantly. He doesn't cry when we lay him down because he doesn't have that pressure in his head anymore. Thank God for modern medicine! So, if you have a child and the doctor recommends tubes, DO IT! If your doctor is dragging their feet and you have been through rounds of antibiotics, find another doctor! Your child's language skills are critical to their development; trust your gut.

So here is to a life without ear infections and antibiotics!!!